Creating Patterns
Drawing Tools
Draw, erase, lines, shapes, paint bucket, text, and the color picker — the everyday tools for charting stitch by stitch.
Most of pattern making is plain drawing, so these tools are built to feel immediate. Every one has a single-key hotkey, and the options bar at the bottom adapts to whichever tool is active.
Draw (D) places stitches in the active color. Pick a brush size in the options bar — size 1 for detail work, larger for blocking in shapes. Click and drag to paint.
Erase (E) removes stitches, with the same brush sizes.
Line (L) draws straight runs of stitches between two points — borders, stems, geometry. Click, drag, release.
Shapes (S) draws rectangles or circles, outlined in your active color. Switch between square and circle in the options bar.
Paint bucket (B) flood-fills a connected area: tap a white background and the whole background becomes your active color. For changing a color everywhere regardless of connection, use Replace Color in the tool rail — it swaps every stitch of one color for another in one step.
Color picker (P) samples any stitch on the canvas and makes it your active color. Indispensable when you come back to a pattern and need exactly that green from last week.
Text (T) converts typed text into stitches with selectable fonts and sizes.
Pan (Space) moves around the canvas. Hold space and drag, or use the hand tool. On touch devices, two fingers pan and pinch zooms — no tool change needed.
The safety net
Everything is undoable — up to 50 steps with Ctrl+Z (and Ctrl+Y to redo). Combined with autosave, the worst mistake in Knytstudio costs you a keystroke. Experiment freely.
When you outgrow freehand, the next tools to learn are selections for moving and repeating motifs, and backstitch for outlines.
Frequently asked questions
Can I draw with a bigger brush?
Yes. When the draw or erase tool is active, the options bar at the bottom shows brush sizes, from single-stitch precision up to broad strokes for filling areas.
How do I fill a whole area with one color?
The paint bucket (hotkey B) fills every connected stitch of the same color. To swap one color for another across the entire pattern, use Replace Color instead.
Can I add text to a pattern?
Yes, the text tool turns typed text into stitches, with a choice of fonts and sizes. Names and dates on samplers take seconds instead of an evening of charting letters.
Try it yourself
The Knytstudio editor is free to use in your browser. No install, no signup needed to start.
Open the editor